Fires in France and Spain have torn through a region already battered by a blisteringly hot and dry summer. Crews were seeking to capitalise on more favourable weather before a new wave of higher temperatures settled in from Wednesday.
In the Bordeaux region of France, firefighters contained the forest blaze overnight,
Local authorities at Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde, which covers the Bordeaux area, said on X the fire had been contained on Tuesday after some flare-ups, but weather forecasts were unfavourable.
"It's tough," said pastry chef Jonathan Segalas-Talous, whose group of volunteers said they had used 4,500 litres of water to douse burning vegetation today.
"We make do with what we have, with buckets, our own little hands, doing the best we can."
"And since this morning, we’ve felt like we’re truly helping people, and that’s a great feeling," he added.
President Emmanuel Macron called the wildfire crisis possibly the most severe the country has faced since World War Two.
Charred deer and other animal carcasses lay scattered across a forest near El Tiemblo, in Spain’s Ávila province after a wildfire swept through the area.
The blaze was part of a series of wildfires that burned across central Spain, where high temperatures, dry vegetation and rugged terrain complicated firefighting efforts.
A Madrid resident who had been on holiday in El Tiemblo said she had never imagined witnessing “so much damage” and added: “I thought we’d never experience this. But here we are.” Wildfires have burned tens of thousands of hectares across the provinces of Avila and Madrid.
